Girls Basketball: Balanced Scoring Leads South Lakes Past Jefferson

After falling behind early,  South Lakes battled back to win at Thomas Jefferson, 50-44 on Saturday.

Jefferson's offense was clicking early as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead over South Lakes, but after a timeout and defensive adjustments to a full-court press, the Seahawks were able to force multiple turnovers and pull within three points to end the quarter.

South Lakes (6-10, 3-6 Liberty District) was led by Abigail Rendle, who controlled the defensive boards, but her strong play at that end of the court wasn’t enough to help the Seahawks convert transition points off missed shots by Jefferson (2-12, 1-8).

Rendle started to find rhythm with her shot late in the half and scored two big baskets to help her team go into the locker room up by five. The Seahawks second quarter effort suggested that the team had made an adjustments, but that wasn't necessarily the case.

"They needed to relax," said South Lakes Coach Christy Winters Scott. "We were over-thinking things and playing tentatively. I didn't change anything in regards to game plan or strategy, it was all mental."

Jefferson began the third quarter in a tight man-to-man defense and some hot shooting from three-point land pulled them ahead briefly, but a Seahawks basket in the final second put them back on top. Jefferson was paced by Shannon Eriksson, who scored  25 of her teams 44 points.

Rendle led a balanced Seahawks scoring attack with 10 points and eight blocked shots. Ashlei Sutton and Colette Toma both had nine.